Walking With El Salvador

The sun slipped below the San Salvador Volcano, casting bright orange and pink streaks across the purpling sky. Mothers were gathered at the corner, chatting as their little ones zoomed around with red and yellow plastic trucks. Students began arriving home from school, trudging up the hill wearing comfy blue gym pants and white t-shirts and carrying loaded backpacks. Yessenia sat on the curb, minding her pop-up store which she sets up every afternoon in front of the church.  The church doors and windows were wide open. Cristina cut out and decorated the number 27. People sat around inside and out, chatting and sharing stories. Children worked on homework. We watched a video I had posted on YouTube from last year's anniversary celebration and laughed about Marcelino's love of fireworks. The pupusas arrived. We sat in the sanctuary in a big circle of green plastic chairs, licked salsa and curtido from our fingers, and drank hot coffee. More people arrived. Chairs were passed ou

I am a plant person - a plant person without a garden or a yard or a farm. We have porches.  Porch Pot (©Linda Muth, 2023) It's pretty amazing to see what will grow on a porch.  I like to experiment with what might be considered garbage from things I get at the grocery store. Most Salvadoran produce is not hybrid, so saved seeds will germinate. Herbs are sold with the roots, so it sometimes works to cut off most of the herbs and stick the roots into a pot. I am currently experimenting with some little chunks of ginger that were no longer edible.  After a couple of weeks in the soil, the roots are sprouting nice little stalks and leaves. Ginger sprouting (©Linda Muth, 2023) Frequent travel makes porch gardening extra challenging. One option is to grow for a while and then give plants away.  One time, I left a bucket of basil, rosemary and other herbs with Pastor Santiago's mom, and it produced abundantly until Santiago cut off too much. (He told me he was grateful for the learni

Sunday was gym day.  We did not go to the gym. The gym came to Los Héroes. And it was beautiful. A Back Story We have a little group at the church called the Comisión de Salud - the Health Commission. We meet on the first Sunday of the month (with the other 3 church ministry commissions).  At our first meeting in January, we decided to sponsor one health education workshop or event each month on a Sunday after worship. We discussed using the Mission of Healing curriculum which was developed last year.  Commission members suggested we meet an extra time each month for internal training with the curriculum, particularly to expand the reproductive education team which will assist with Days for Girls kit distribution events.  We identified potential partnership connections with the Unidad de Salud (local clinic) and organizations which support holistic well-being. A Partnership Connection Just over a year ago, a community gym opened up in a neighborhood not too far from Los Héroes. Som